nickharris87

Monday 2nd March 2015

Up at 8am for a nice FaceTime chat with Christopher to find out how his new job is progressing, and got updates from home. This morning there is a nice blue sky a few white clouds. We went down for breakfast, it is the normal fare. Plan today is Bondi Beach, for a chill day.

Sue borrowed a couple of towels from reception, then we headed out to catch bus 333 out to the beach. We had a bit if a hiccup when we got the bus on the wrong side of the road, went about 250 yards and finished back at Circular Quay! Walked back up to the stop on the other side of the road and after a few minutes the same bus came along and we got it!

The route out to Bondi took us past Hyde Park site of the old Marriott that now appears to be converted to condos. It was a good run out to the beach through Bondi Junction. We got off bus and walked to beach, it was cloudy but warm. I got changed in the huge free changing rooms and we walked onto the lovely soft sand.

We laid our towels out like proper tourists and had a pleasant couple of hours on the beach watching the people, paddling in the sea and walking along the sand. i didn’t bother having a swim. The water wasn’t too cold, but wasn’t as hot as Port Douglas. The waves were really powerful though and it is a great place. The sun broke through the clouds every now and again making it very warm. There is even free, council provided, free wi-fi on the sand.

Once we had had our fill of the beach life we walked up to the big cafe, where we both had a coffee and Sue and her favourite toasted banana bread. I had some carrot cake.once we had eaten we walked back up to the top, taking loads of photos as we did, then got the 333 bus to Bondi Junction. This area is one huge shopping area with a big Westfield Mall and lots of shopping streets. Our first call was the Bondi Junction Apple store for the obligatory Facebook check in.

In the mall itself we made our way to Target, where I bought some new three quarters, as my current pair are well ready for a wash. Sue a got a new long skirt. We then wandered the other shops in the huge mall. We decide that we would eat here, as the lounge food had become a bit samey. There is no shortage of places to eat – there are at least two food courts and then a ‘restaurant precinct’ which we assume is a cut above a food court.

In the precinct we were given a voucher by a girl outside a Mexican Taquenta called Guzman y Gomez. They were offering half price $5 burritos and $5 Corona beer, so we decided to give them our custom. We both had chicken burrito and a beer and shared some quesadillas – very nice they were too. Once we had eaten it was after six pm and most of the smaller shops were shut – only the anchors remained open. We went to the bus station and got the 333 along the very busy streets back to the city.

On the way back to the hotel we bought postcards then went to the lounge where the hot choice was salt and pepper calamari,so eating out was good choice. We had a drink then went down to the room for the big pack and another reasonably early night.

Sunday 1st March 2015.

Absolutely glorious blue skies this morning, the forecast is for it to be hot – but for afternoon thunderstorms. We were up by 8am and went up for the usual lounge breakfast – a good way to set up the day. Before we went out we went down to the fourth floor to have a look at the pool and gym – all the times we have stayed here,we had never seen it before – always something more exciting to do – it is very impressive, with a big spa pool.

After this we had walk out to in the hot sunshine to Circular Quay, there was a P&O cruise liner moored up – not as big as yesterday’s. the Quay is very busy, as normal we walked along and round the back of the Opera House, where we paused to watch a lone seal, that appeared to be performing in the water.

Our destination this morning is the Botanical Gardens – a wonderful place that I could visit again and again without getting bored – there is so much to see, be it plants, animals, birds or just people watching – we went in through the Queen Elizabeth II gates, and just wandered . We took photos of trees, plants and lots of other things, including suck in a tree, fish in the pond and parrots on a fountain. Eventually went exited the gardens through the Woolloomooloo Gate and walked down to look out over Woolloomooloo Bay to Finger Wharf. This is a fabulous development of condos which each have parking for boat outside and great views – when I win the lottery I am buying one!

Making our way round the bay, we went past the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Swimming pool and the Navy ships moored on the other side of the Bay to Mrs Macquarie’s Point and Chair. We have never walked this far round and we were rewarded with another fantastic angle giving views of the Bridge and Opera House. We then walked back through the gardens out to Macquarie Street and then into the city through Martin Place which last time were here was lined with motor cycles in a display to celebrate Australia Day, but has since gained infamy as the scene of the siege and shooting earlier this year.

Clouds have started too appear so we decided to stick with plan A, which is a shopping afternoon. We walked to George Street and managed to grab some wi-fi then used the Opal Bus app to work out the one we wanted to catch – after a couple of false starts we eventually got a bus at the corner of George Street and Park Street out to Birkenhead Point shopping mall. We christened our Opal cards and were charged $2.50 for the ride.

The mall was clear to see as we crossed over a big river bridge, but we needn’t have worried as most of the bus’s passengers had the same intention and there was a mass exodus. We crossed the road and walked to the Mall, the entrance was slightly convoluted, as it had us going into the car park and down two levels, but we made it eventually. It is a good big mall and we made our way to the food court overlooking the river. The views over river were very familiar and we recognised them from our ferry trip to the Olympic Stadium on the last trip. We went to Coles for salads and a drink. I had a nice Lamb salad and Sue had chicken.

After we had eaten, we split up and wandered the big mall – I went to the Asic’s Outlet and got and Aussie cricket polo shirt, as I was wandering it clouded over some more, then rained very heavily, so it had been a good move to get indoors. I even bought a lottery ticket, so that I can buy the condo on Finger Wharf. It is a luck dip for two draws – Monday and Wednesday. There are some really good shops and some real bargains but nothing I had to have. Sue did get a long skirt. When we met up we headed for a bakery near Coles and had a cake and a coffee.

At 5.30pm we walked for the bus and just as we got to the stop it started to RAIN, and boy! did it rain? We dived on the bus and had a good run back through town, occasionally hitting a mega puddle. All the people who got one were soaked – a lot in their evening finery ready for a night on the town. Where the bus stopped, we were able to run to a back door into the hotel, even though it had eased off a fair bit by then.

In the lounge, the hot dishes are pork in breadcrumbs and spinach ricotta, plus the usual salads meats and cheese. We had our food and drink but it was still naff weather, so we decided to go down to spa on the fourth floor for a jacuzzi, to ease our weary bones.

Saturday 28th February 2015.

It was nice to wake up to blue skies this morning. We have another unhurried morning, which is nice. Sue got sorted and debated whether to take clothes to the laundrette. I got here a coffee then went for my breakfast to get last night’s diary done and I also managed to get several days uploaded to the blog.

Once all that was done, and we had decided have enough clean clothes, we headed out. A nice walk up to an along George Street. It is very busy with Saturday shoppers and lots of tourists and it was nice to spot places that were familiar from previous visits. We made it through the hostel area to Chinatown then over Paddy’s Market which is a huge multi storey market and shop complex with a large number of stalls on the ground floor which include a massive fruit and veg market.

It is a great place to browse around, so we split up. There are very, very cheap t-shirts and souvenirs. There are also a number of stall selling very cheap sports tops, but all of the tops are for US NBA, NFL and MLB teams – a lot of them were old,the Red Sox tops had Kevin Youkilis’ name on the back and he left the Sox in 2012. Sue got a t-shirt, but I didn’t bother. I was after a ‘Big Bash’ team shirt but it would appear that the Aussie authorities are only happy to allow dodgy shirts of non-Aussie sports teams.

Outside the market is the huge new Qantas Credit Union Arena, advertising tickets for Billy Idol, Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue and Spandau Ballet to name a few. This led us into the Darling Harbour area – we had a look round here last time we were in Sydney, but it appears to have expanded somewhat. It is also expanding further with a massive new Convention Centre springing up – there are lawns, and a huge child’s play park. The Imax claims to be the biggest in the world. They were setting up for a display of Law Enforcement with police bikes, cars and even a helicopter, but that wasn’t on today.

The main draw at the harbour today is Dragon Boat racing – clearly taken VERY seriously here with lots of teams, all with team shirts with proper logos and looking very professional – it attracts all ages and has mixed teams – we were amazed at the number of folk on the wrong side of sixty who were taking part – it is very well organised – as you would expect – there are six boats racing a short sprint course – each had 20 rowers a steerer and a drum beater to keep their strokes in time.

There are two lots of six boats all shared by the teams, so while one is racing the other set of boats are being loaded up and getting ready to go to the start line – this way the races come thick and fast. A starter gets them all lined up by barking tot he teams to move forward or back until they are all in line and then they are off! We watched a few races from the bank, then went up onto the Plymouth foot bridge to watch some more. Very enjoyable.

The harbour area was very busy and the considerable number of restaurants all seemed to be doing a roaring trade. We walked past Madame Tussaud’s and then to the end of the harbour intending to walk to The Rocks. There are a lot of new buildings springing up here too. As the floors build up they are numbered and to show how long one been going up, some wag had been gong up, some wag had painted November on floor 18, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on floor 21 and a tribute to Phil Hughes ’63 not out’ on floor 22 – they are currently up to floor 29.

It was all fairly quiet in there area, so we climbed up some steps to Kent Street and round to the Harbour Bridge Climb building, where we treated ourselves to a nice ice cream from and Ice Cream Van. We had a look round the shop, but didn’t buy any bridge climb souvenirs – the exchange rate makes them much more attractive now, then when we actually did the climb.

Next stop was The Rocks weekend market, though we did pause for a photo op to three parrots up in a tree level with where they were – they were very close to us and clearly weren’t bothered by us. We both had a mooch round the market, but the prices were clearly aimed at the many, Chinese and other nationality of tour group that were thronging round it. We made our way round to the cruise terminal where the Royal Caribbean boat that we had seen in Cairns, The Rhapsody of the Seas was in the throes of departing – we had another photo op there, then headed back through Circular Quay to the hotel, arriving just after 5.30pm. We dumped our stuff in the room then headed up to the long for pizza and small ‘assorted’ meat pies, as well as some salad and cold meats, some sweet and, of course, our fill of G&T and beer. After the excesses of the past two evenings, we decided to chill in the lounge for the evening before retiring for baths and a reasonably early night.